Intonation and meaning.

General.

It has often been pointed out, and rightly, that no tone group is used exclusively with this or that sentence type – question, statement and the like – and also that no sentence type always requires the use of one and only one tone group. As a concrete example it would be quite untrue to say that sentences having the form of a question are always said with Tone Group VII. Certainly the learning of English intonation would be a great deal easier than it is if this were the case, but the fact is that intonation is too complex and too flexible to be confined within such narrow rules.

Broadly speaking, any sentence type can be linked with any tone group, and in this chapter we shall consider the effect of our ten tone groups in association with each of four main sentence types, statement, question, command and interjection, and we shall try to explain at every step the contribution which the tone group makes to the total meaning of the sense group. The four sentence types are, and are meant to be, very wide and at times overlapping categories, and we shall not try to define or limit them. They will simply provide examples of the working of intonation in very different sentence structures.

This implied separation of intonation and sentence structure is an analytical procedure which is thoroughly justifiable as an aid to teaching and learning, but it should be remembered that in reality that part of the speaker’s meaning which is assumed to be carried by the structure of the sentence – words and word order – and that part attributed to intonation are welded together to form the total meaning of the utterance at a particular time and in a particular context. However, the student using this book undoubtedly understands the basic meaning of English words, though not the role of intonation; so the separation can and does exist for him, and it is convenient to make use of this in what follows.

So this chapter provides a description of the attitudes conveyed by the different tone groups in association with the various sentence types. This description is a difficult business because it involves using words to suggest effects which are usually achieved by intonation. This means that words alone do not always give a very accurate impression of the attitude conveyed, yet enough can be done to produce a basis for the further development of the student’s comprehension.

Tone Group I.

TUNES:

1. Low Fall Only.

2. Low Fall + Tail.

3. Low Pre-head + Low Fall (+ Tail).

4. (Low Pre-head +) Low Head + Low Fall (+ Tail).

STATEMENTS.

All statements associated with tone groups containing falling nuclear tones (Tone Groups I – V) sound definite and complete in the sense that the speaker wishes them to be regarded as separate items of interest. In addition Tone Group I is characteristically used to convey a cool, calm, phlegmatic, detached, reserved, dispassionate, dull, possibly grim or surly attitude on the part of the speaker.

Examples:

Answers to questions:

What’s your name?	\Johnson.
How old are you?	\Twenty.
Occupation?	I’m a \shop asısistant.
Do you work in London?	\Yes, | I \do.
Do you take sugar?	I \don’t, | \no.

Announcements:

You’ve got \lipstick on your ıcollar again.

I must \go.

It’s ııgetting \late.

Comments:

I’ve got the sack.	I’m ıınot sur\prised.
I wasn’t even there when it happened.	You should have ıısaid so be\fore.
You can go to blazes.	So \that’s how you ıfeel about it.

This tone group is often used to denote the final item in the list, the other items having rising tones:

Example: You can have ^/tea, | or ^/coffee, | or _\milk.

The use of the final falling tone here implies that the list is complete: there are no other drinks available.

QUESTIONS.

1. Special Questions, i.e. those which contain an interrogative word such as What, How, Why, etc. and which cannot be answered by simply saying Yes or No.

As with statements the tone of such questions is detached and reserved; they sound rather flat and unsympathetic, quite often even hostile, and are consequently less commonly heard than such questions with other tone groups.

Examples:

Can you lend me some money?	ııWhat do you \want it ıfor?
I think it’ll be easy.	ııHow do you make \that ıout?
I can’t possibly do that.	ııWhat’s so \difficult aıbout it?

2. General Questions, i.e. those which can be answered by saying Yes or No.

The main uses for Tone Group I with these questions are:

• To put the question forward as a suggestion or a subject for discussion rather than as a request for immediate information. Again the general attitude is detached, phlegmatic and reserved.

Examples:

We shall have to take a taxi.	But ııcan we af\ford it?
This knife’s too blunt.	Is \this one ıany ıbetter?
I’ve got so many things to do.	Can \I ıhelp at ıall?

When the fall is on the special finite verb, the speaker is querying an assumption on the part of the listener.

Example:

If we can afford it, we’ll go there.

But \can we afıford it?

What is in appearance a negative question of this kind may in effect be an exclamation.

Example:

Look at this gorgeous material.

\Isn’t it ılovely!

The maximum effect is achieved by placing the nuclear tone on the special finite verb, otherwise the impression is dry and perfunctory.

Example:

Look what I’ve been given.

ııAren’t you \lucky!

• In a series of short questions where there is only a small change in the form of the question each time.

Example:

Is it _\red? Is it _\blue? Is it _\black?

• Perhaps the most important use of Tone Group I with general questions is for question tags when they follow statements containing the low-falling nuclear tone. In such cases the speaker expects his statement to be confirmed by the listener, indeed he does not consider any answer except a confirmatory one to be possible.

Examples:

What a beautiful \day, | \isn’t it?

You ought to be a\shamed of yourıself, | \oughtn’t you?

There’ll be \seven of us, | \won’t there?

This type of phrase is also used independently as a comment upon a statement made by someone else. When the Low Fall is used the comment is apt to convey a total lack of interest, or else a mood of grim hostility.

Examples:

I’ve just come back from Paris.	\Have you?
John borrowed your car today.	\Did he?

• This tone group is used in alternative questions to mark the last of the alternatives.

Examples:

^Would you like _/tea | or _\coffee?

^Can I ^·get you a _/gin, | or a _/whisky, | or a _\beer?

The final fall implies that these are the only choices and that the list is complete.

COMMANDS.

Tone Group I is used for unemotional, calm, controlled, often cold commands.

Examples:

_\Don’t. _\Take it. _\Sit, Fido. _\Gently, you _ıclumsy _ıman.

Notice that this tone group is rarely used if there are two prominent words in the command; it is therefore uncommon to hear such things as _ııDon’t be _\silly or _ıısit _\down, in where a Low Head precedes the fall.

INTERJECTIONS.

Interjections with Tone Group I sound calm, unsurprised, self-possessed, reserved. They are generally short phrases.

Examples:

_\Good. _\Right. _\Oh. _\Nonsense. _ııVery _\nice. Good _\morning.

Notice in particular _\Thank you, and _\Thanks, to express genuine, though unexcited gratitude.

Assignments:

1. Listen to the recording of the “Low Drop I” on the tape. Put down the script and intonation marks of the mini dialogues you hear. Figure out what types of sentences the recorded drills are and what attitude do they convey according to the tune they are pronounced with. Prepare test reading of these mini dialogues in pairs.

2. Read the following drills in pairs. Follow the intonation marked in the text. Analyse them from the point of view of their connotations.